Choices

Some of you might have seen that the same picture when I posted it on Instagram last month. I have been making it a point to get to spin class at least one time a week. There are a few reasons why I am making this choice: first, I enjoy the class. It is a challenge and something I feel like I am capable of doing even though I am five months pregnant. Secondly, I want to get some exercise while I am pregnant. My previous two pregnancies, I have struggled with excess weight gain, and it has been really difficult to lose it after I give birth. Third, I have been reading through the book “The Fringe Hours” by Jessica Turner.

She talks about the guilt we have for making “me time.” Honestly, I did feel guilty. I left my two hungry kids, dinner instructions for my husband, my college final paper and a messy kitchen when I went to class. It was all there for me when I came back. My kids wanted to eat again as most toddlers do and my poor husband waited for me to make supper for us and eat so he was hungry too. And of course my college final paper still loomed over me. But it was okay because I made the choice to go to class.

Life is about the choices we make. Not really a news flash. As I mentioned earlier, I am taking a college class. Actually, I have a week of overlap between my each course. Result: I feel like all I have done this week is homework and my final. I got my Associate’s degree in May 2013, a month before my son was born. Since then I have been waiting for life to calm down enough for me to start my Bachelor’s degree.

Even though there is a lot going on with two toddlers in the house, and my husband going to school full time, I felt like I was capable of getting a few more classes toward my degree and my long term goal. Schedules with homework, sharing the computer and the child-watching can be a bit hectic, but it is nothing my husband and I cannot handle. At times I have wondered if we are crazy, especially when I get that look from people like “What are you thinking!”

I figured that this would test my time management skills, which it definitely has. Obviously there are things that have been cut out because there is only so much time in the day. I am very happy that my husband is willing to share the housework and he is wonderful at even making dinner some nights. I am very blessed that he is not scared of traditionally female roles. We are a family and the choices that we make are the choices that define our relationship and our family.

When we make positive choices such as taking time out for self-care such as spin class or a nap, we are allowing for refreshment in our day and breathing life into our spirits. Yes, taking college classes, being pregnant and everything else I am involved in might be a lot for some people. But if I am not working toward something, what will I be doing? What goals do you have that you are working toward?